


Windswept

by clantail (ideallyqualia)



Category: Bravely Default (Video Game) & Related Fandoms
Genre: Comfort, F/F, Fluff, Pre-Relationship, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-23
Updated: 2015-10-23
Packaged: 2018-04-26 16:41:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5012062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ideallyqualia/pseuds/clantail
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Agnés holds on, but she has to learn to let go.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Windswept

**Author's Note:**

  * For [flarewerk](https://archiveofourown.org/users/flarewerk/gifts).



> Spoilers for most of the game. I don't remember all of the details of the game myself, but I love Edea and Agnés, so I hope any details I wrote didn't conflict with canon!

Agnés sat on the floorboards of the airship by herself, looking up into the star filled sky with the chilly sea breeze drifting up from the water far below. The others were inside. 

Agnés had never been truly alone before. She lived with acolytes and other servants of the crystals, and in between living at the temple and traveling, she always had Airy. Airy was kind, and Airy followed Agnés everywhere and kept her company. Airy's constant presence was a balm to Agnés's trivial troubles as a sheltered oblige, and Airy talked Agnés through everything.

Agnés swallowed and coughed into her wrist. The wind on the deck was cold, and Agnés only wore her dress, but she didn't want to be inside. She folded her knees up, the dress moving and flowing, and she settled in a slightly trembling ball.

There was the creak of a door and the wooden floorboards straining under footsteps, but Agnés remained still.

"Agnés?"

Agnés angled her head to the side.

Edea stepped over to her carefully, the floorboards creaking less. Edea slowed next to Agnés, standing in the wind, her skirt ruffling.

"It's…cold…" Edea said. She was wearing even less than Agnés, but she had more resistance to the cold than Agnés. She drew her hands over her arms, rubbing warmth into her skin. Her foot traced over the floor, in cautious circles reflecting the unease of her thoughts.

"Are you sure you're not cold?" Edea asked. 

Agnés didn't respond. Her hands stayed around her knees, and her eyes on the sky.

Edea let her head roll to the side, her gaze gently taking in Agnés. With a flick of her hand on her skirt, Edea gave in and sat down beside Agnés. 

Edea kept space between them for the first few minutes, respectful and wary of startling Agnés, but she tested the distance in a scoot. 

Agnés sighed. "You came for a reason."

Edea crossed the remaining centimeters and pressed the length of her arm against Agnés's. Edea was cold, but the new body heat was comforting, and Agnés relaxed. 

"We're worried about you and Ringabel," Edea confessed. 

"Where is he?" 

"Holed up in a room somewhere, reading his old journal." Edea stopped talking. Ringabel had his own problems, inter-dimensional and existential problems that were laden with thorny meanings, and Edea didn't want to drive that into Agnés at the moment. 

They were silent for a while. Edea barely moved, even though she wanted to. Her legs were starting to ache and stiffen, fatigue creeping in, and she was afraid that moving would provoke creaks and cracks from the floorboards and her knees. That would disturb the atmosphere even more. 

"…It's my fault," Agnés said quietly.

"What? No, Agnés,  _no one_ blames you for Airy," Edea said quickly. If Agnés turned, she'd be able to see Edea's wide, concerned eyes. "None of the other Agnés, Tiz, Ringabel, and Edeas could've known, either."

 "We're just as hopeless," Agnés continued, tightening her arms around her knees.

Edea realized that was the wrong thing to say to Agnés. Bringing it up reminded Agnés that there was precedent, it happened before and it could happen again. Precedence usually implied strong predictability, too; they could fail to stop Airy again, in this lifetime. 

"Shh, we're not hopeless," Edea murmured. "Ringabel escaped once. The world changes each time. Nothing is for  _sure_."

Edea placed her arm around Agnés's quivering shoulders. Agnés was shaking, partly from the cold and partly from her splintered will. Agnés was also sniffling, but she wasn't sobbing, her body didn't give way to despairing tremors.

"Shh," Edea cooed again, gently. "Listen, Agnés. None of us knew that Airy was evil. We didn't know anything about any of our worlds. I didn't know my father would be aligned against you. Even if he was right about the crystals, he shouldn't have fought against us. The citizens of Florem didn't know their hairpins were tainted. I don't think any servant of the crystals knew anything about this, either. Everyone in every version of this world has made a similar mistake.  

"But your strength is still there. You have the heart of an oblige. You're still in one piece!" Edea meant it metaphorically, but she gestured over Agnés anyway. "You haven't fallen apart. I think that means something."

Agnés rubbed the side of her hand against her eyes. "Thank you for saying that," she choked out.

"It's all true!" Edea pressed. "Who cares what a gnat did."

Edea's hearted persistence was warming to Agnés. Edea was actually nervous, Agnés could tell, but Edea was also stubborn and determined. Aside from worrying her lip and grappling the bottom of her skirt, Edea hid it well.

Edea rested her weight on Agnés more, shifting up to crowd Agnés's shoulders, the momentum driving her over Agnés's arm. Edea was puffing out a cheek now, indignantly trying to mask her embarrassment.

"It is a little cold," Agnés agreed. 

Edea let out a breath of relief. "Let's go inside, then." 

Edea lightly pulled on Agnés's wrist, encouraging her to stand as she got up herself. Agnés flattened her hands over her dress to dust herself and smooth out her clothes. 

"Thank you, Edea," Agnés said. Her eyes were rimmed with red and drying tears.

"No problem," Edea stammered. She bumped her shoulder to her mouth to hide her twitching mouth and tightening cheeks. She followed behind Agnés, pushing on her back lightly to guide her back inside. 

Tiz and other crew members of Grandship lifted their heads at the approaching footsteps into the tavern. Edea and Agnés were both a little cold, shaking and brushing themselves off as if they could deflect the residual chill.

"I'm glad you're feeling better!" Tiz called out. He sat at a table with his hands on the surface, his head rising from it as he straightened.

"I am, thanks," Agnés said. She dipped her head in gratitude.

Edea flitted away to the proprietress, quick to busy herself again.

**Author's Note:**

> (General A/N that exists at the end of all my fics): I find unsolicited concrit really rude, I'm not looking for any. Please don't tell me someone was OOC/something happened you didn't like/it's too short/etc. in any bookmarks or comments.


End file.
